oil change and expected to be on my way in twenty minutes . But then they found something — the belts were worn and the car was unsafe to drive ! Between parts and labor , the $ 20 service was now going to cost me $ 200 !
While I was waiting for my service to be completed , I noticed other people having trouble with their vehicles . One woman needed brakes ; someone else needed tires and wiper blades . In my short time there , I watched thousands of dollars of sales being generated that would not have been if the mechanic didn ’ t suggest these needed repairs . It ’ s important to note that these were legitimate sales . You could see the tires were bald on the one vehicle and that the woman knew about the brakes being low ; she was trying to postpone fixing them for as long as possible . This means that even though many people knew they needed these services , they would not have made these purchases if the mechanic didn ’ t urge them to .
This is a perfect example of why you can ’ t allow your customers to dictate your revenue or purchase the amount of products and services that would benefit them most .
TWO SALES PROCESSES TO RAPIDLY GROW YOUR BUSINESS 1 . A front-end sales process that aligns with marketing to generate interest and acquire the customer .
2 . A back-end sales process that takes that customer and gets them to purchase as much as possible , as often as possible , for as long as possible .
If you look at your business in terms of front-end and back-end , then you can be very strategic about your growth and build processes accordingly .
Research shows that it is six times easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to someone new . It is also true that the bulk of your marketing costs go into acquiring the customer . Therefore , not only is it much easier to get an existing customer to buy more , but it ’ s also much more cost effective . With this information in mind , you will create a sales process to acquire customers ( at the lowest cost possible ) and then have a process to maximize that relationship , increasing the lifetime value of that customer . Your backend revenue ( and the bulk of the profits ) can only grow as fast as you can grow the frontend of your business .
FRONT-END SALES PROCESS : ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS Target your ideal prospects . Create a profile of who your ideal customers are . Keep the back-end in mind . Most likely , these are people ( or companies ) that will have the highest lifetime value . Your ideal prospects don ’ t always have to be the most lucrative . If you are just starting out , you may want to target the customers that are the easiest for you to acquire so that you can establish your credibility in the market .
Generate leads or sales opportunities . It ’ s vital that you create a process that will consistently generate opportunities for prospects to buy from you . Your front-end can only grow in proportion to the opportunities you create . Now that you know which people you are targeting , figure out what you can repeat to generate interest from them often .
Convert those opportunities . This may be your sales presentation , your initial consultation , or what happens when a prospect walks through your doors . Have a step-by-step plan that takes that initial interest and converts it into some sort of purchase . The initial purchase amount is not as important as the fact that they actually make a purchase . You can generate more sales in your back-end process , but your concern here is that you get them to complete a transaction . To accomplish this , you should make that initial transaction as easy as possible including starting with a small purchase so that the decision is an easy one .
Get referrals . You may ask for referrals at different points in the relationship . Every existing customer can bring additional customers , and business can grow exponentially . Have a process in place so that this is not left to chance .
BACK-END SALES PROCESS : INCREASE THE LIFETIME VALUE Increase the average transaction size . This is where your upsells and cross sells should come in . What other products or services should customers buy from you to get the maximum benefit of your offering ? What can you bundle together to incentivize a larger purchase ? When will you offer it ? How will that offer be made ?
Increase the purchase frequency . What can you do to get customers to purchase more frequently ? Can you put them on some type of plan ? Starbucks created incentives for people to come in after two o ’ clock so customers who come in for their morning coffee now come back for their afternoon snack .
Keep them longer . The longer a customer continues to do business with you , the more you are multiplying the first two points and the more profitable this relationship becomes . Continue to add value , continue to build the relationship , and continue to get feedback .
What ’ s more important than any of the points above is to have a process for each so that you are maximizing sales at every stage . The more it ’ s repeated , the easier it becomes .
George Athan , CEO of MindStorm Strategic Consulting , creates highly effective sales processes to grow your business rapidly and massively . To learn more , go to www . Mind-Storm . com .
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